DAY 333
03.02.08
TREE 165
I had a really strange thing happen. I climbed the skinny little tree in my parents’ backyard to the left of the tennis court.
I’d say it was about late afternoon, early evening. I walked over to it and just over the fence was a neighbor guy picking up sticks in his yard. I said, "howya doin?" and he said, "Hi." Then I walked right up to my young pole of a tree and started climbing. First I pole-walked it in the crouched position till I could reach the first little branch. Then up from there I worked quickly from limb to limb to the top of this tree. All the while looking down at the neighbor to see if he noticed or was watching. And he was, here and there, glancing up in my direction then going back to his work. I took down the orange ribbon that I remembered was supposed to be pink but that I forgot to change colors since I had climbed it on the first of December.
Then I took out my camera and took all sorts of pictures… a few turkey vultures,
the ground,
the tennis court,
the houses,
and even one of the neighbor putting all his sticks into a pile.
I considered making another video of me swaying but decided against it. I put my camera away and swayed a little bit.
I knew this tree could really bend but I didn’t push it. I swayed and watched that guy, so close, so aware of me, just working in his yard… and say nothing. And that is the strange thing. He didn’t say a word to me after "Hi." No comments, questions, admonitions, or concerns. So when I was all done up there I climbed down, slid to the ground, and walked back to the house. Still nothing.
Inside I asked my parents who that neighbor was. I forget what name they said but I told them how he said nothing. They thought it was strange too because, apparently, he’s a talkative guy. That just really makes me wonder what he thought of me. Does he know about me or has he seen me many times before? Is it just routine viewing of the crazy tree-climbing neighbor? I may never know.
3-12-09: This last picture just above this sentence is of another tree in my parents’ backyard that I would soon reclimb. It is a pink ribbon so that means I climbed it first some time in December.
Looking back at this entry, I don’t think the neighbor not saying anything is that strange. Oh well. Sometimes I had to work to make an entry interesting.
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On March 2nd 2009, I got up in James’ apartment and looked out the window to see about 8 new inches of fresh snow. I got ready and left to go to Megan’s place in Cambridge. It was nice to trudge through the fresh snow but I was worried that my flight later that day would be delayed or canceled.
I got to Megan’s and met her husband, Jamie. He is a teacher and school was canceled due to the snow. Plus, he told me that Logan Airport was shut down earlier in the morning. Things weren’t looking good. But I had a great visit with Megan. It had been too long since we had seen each other or talked and I really enjoyed her company.
But eventually I had to go back to Copley Square to meet with James for lunch. Then it was back to the apartment to grab my bags and head to the airport. But just before we went in, I thought I should get my climb in. If my flight was delayed or canceled I could be stuck in the airport and not get the chance to climb a tree. If I missed a day this close to my two years I would be pissed. So we walked back over to the edge of the Charles and I quickly picked an oak just next to the water.
Not a new type of tree I had never climbed, but I was cold, it was snowy, and I was in a hurry. When I started to climb the tree I found that there was a thin layer of ice on the tops of all the branches. My bare hands began to ache but I pushed through.
I got up very high in the tree and saw the freezing river,
the white covered cityscape with a thin fog that hovered.
It just looked cold, but as always, beautiful as well. James watched from below looking cold and concerned as I kept telling him about the ice on the branches.
When I was done shooting I quickly climbed back down. I had plenty of time and figured my flight would be delayed anyway, but I hurried nonetheless.
I took the T to the airport stop and grabbed the shuttle to the B Terminal. When I got into the airport I got my tickets printed and went through security. After putting my shoes and hoodies back on I went to the Arrivals and Departures monitors. My flight was on time. Great. I sat at my gate and read. Eventually we boarded. We had to taxi to a de-icing spot which took a while then we got re-routed to another take off strip due to our weight. We did finally take off but late.
We landed at the DC airport and I needed to get to my next gate quick. I went as fast as I could and went I got into the Terminal I heard them calling my name. Luckily the gate was nearby. I took the escalator down stairs, hopped on a shuttle and they took us out to our express plane. Strange, but I was there on time. We took off and made great time. I got to Louisville a half hour early. What are the chances? So many other flights were getting delayed and canceled and I was early. I took as good luck and it felt good to be back home.